West Pier - Have Your Say

Re: i360 Lighting design
Meeting on 20th February of lighting designers, council officers, David Marks - architect, and myself.

As previously advised, I attended this meeting where short listed lighting designers heard the views of local representatives and the architect regarding the illumination of the proposed i360.
Briefly, it would appear that the spire is to be illuminated above the height of Sussex Heights. Advice to the designers emphasised that lighting should be of a gentle, sensitive nature - non-intrusive and discreet - not overshadowing everything else, and should produce a calming effect.
There would be a necessity for security lighting at the lower levels. Lighting inside the pod (required when i360 is in use at night) should be very low.
Operators may wish to change the colours of lighting for special events.
At the end of the meeting we walked to the West Pier to look at the site.
Designers will be returning in a few weeks to present their designs for i360 when the eventual designer will be selected.
I felt that all those present had an appreciation of the residential nature of Regency Square and the neighbourhood and that lighting designs would be sympathetic to our environment.

I live right next to the i360 site, so all can ask is please make the lighting fairly subdued.

You have my stamp of approval well done

Brighton and Hove City Council are in the process of looking at lighting designs for the proposed i360.
I have been asked to give the views of local residents regarding lighting of the structure.
Should you wish to make a comment (before Monday 19th February) please leave your views on this site.

Hello,
I'm a sixteen year old and whilst living in a village about 10 miles from Brighton I go to college there and spend my weekends there. I quite often go down to sit on the beach on my own or with friends. One of my favourite things to look at is the West Pier. I find it helps me gather my thoughts. It makes me sad that anyone could ever want to burn it down, I believe you would have to be truly sick to want to ruin something so beautiful.
However, my era's main memory of Brighton has always been filled with the wreck of the West Pier. I would have loved to have been alive when it was in its former glory, however to renovate it I think could destroy the memory everyone currently has of it. To the people who do remember it from it's glory days if they renovate it, it will never be the same, never have the same memories, it will be odd and will not live up to expectations. Then to tear it down would ruin the memories that young people today think of Brighton.
The beach is one of my favourite places and I love to close my eyes and imagine how it used to be, when life, was more difficult in many ways, but also far more simple. When the clothes seemed more fun and children did not need technological things to keep them happy. The wreck will always be a part of my heart and I wish it could just stay like that. I know in time if it is left how it is, it will just fall apart even more. But all the same I just don't think I could stand it any other way.
Thank you for your time.

After all the fervour and raucous protestation over the Ghery towers and the proposed Marina 'roaring forties' development, it seems a little more than surprising that the 600ft tall i360 has slipped under the radar of the usually diligent local conservation/heritage groups. Despite its relatively slight width, this structure is double the height of any other building in Brighton and will totally dominate the coast line and city skyline.

I am all for development in Brighton, but there are elements of this project that seem either outlandish or just simply badly judged. For example, 500,000 new visitors a year - where does this figure come from? Beautiful though our city is, who really wants to see Brighton from the air? People want to see London from the Eye to view the many world famous sights, but how many will be willing to fork out cash or travel from afar to see a fairly small city? I doubt there will be many repeat customers even among those who relish the opportunity.

Also, how many days a year do they seriously think the i360 will be able to operate or have enough visitors to warrant running it? Most of the winter the number of visitors declines drastically during the week and the weather is hardly favourable. After a few years, the i360 will most likely become a very tall, rusty monument to urban decay.

The project also seems to offer little benefit to residents. Maybe we will go up it once, but due to the cost it is hardly something we can enjoy on a Sunday stroll on the seafront. On top of this there are issues of parking, crowding during the two months of the year it will probably be open. It would be much better to spend time and money finding investors to build on the actual site of the pier (ie in the sea) and provide a free landmark, with say a marine/ecology centre, that can be enjoyed all year round, by residents and tourists alike.

Apparently, sometime in the 60s a plan was put forward for an observation tower to be built between the two piers at the end of it's own walkway out into the sea. Funny how things come full circle.

Well done on an excellent and informative website. I think your sun dial proposal is really interesting, and I hope the council is supporting you to take it forward.

Paul

How can people decide that despite not wanting a long stretch of buildings at road level, they now want to have a solid mast in the midle of the decking??
perhaps there should be a barrage balloon placed to show how high/wide it will be when finished. get a real perspective..

A spectacular piece of architecture and a positive visitor attraction ... but not the highest observation tower as claimed. That will be in the even more spectacular London Bridge Tower ('Shard of Glass') granted permission in 2003 and underway, which will be 310m high with 360 degree observation decks at around 130m and also at 228m high.

There is also a sky deck proposed on top of the Blackfriars Beetham Tower (also in Southwark, London) which would be 180m high.

Nevertheless, I will certainly be in the queue for a spectacular view of Brighton and the south coast.